To receive declarations by Members of interests in
respect of items on this Agenda.

Members are reminded that, in accordance with the
Localism Act 2011, they are required to declare any disclosable
pecuniary interests which have not already been declared in the
Council’s Register of Interests. (It is a criminal offence
not to declare a disclosable pecuniary interest either in the
Register or at the meeting).

Whilst not a legal requirement, in accordance with
Council Procedure Rule 9 and in the interests of clarity and
transparency, Members should declare any disclosable pecuniary
interests which they have already declared in the Register, at this
point in the meeting.

In accordance with Part B Section 2 of the Code Of
Conduct, Members are required to declare the existence and nature
of any other interests as defined in paragraphs 8(1) or 9(2) of the
Code of Conduct.

Minutes:

Councillors Phillippa Williamson and Stuart
Bateson advised the meeting that they were both members of
Morecambe & Lunesdale Conservative Association, which was
referred to within the papers, and were acquainted with the
Solicitors that had been engaged by one
of the subject members.

“That, in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local
Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the
meeting for the following item(s) of business, on the grounds that
it could involve the possible disclosure of exempt information, as
defined in paragraph 1 of Schedule 12A of that
Act.”

Members are reminded that,
whilst the following item(s) have been marked as exempt, it is for
Committee itself to decide whether or not to consider each of them
in private or in public. In making the decision, Members should
consider the relevant paragraph of Schedule 12A of the Local
Government Act 1972, and also whether the public interest in
maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in
disclosing the information. In
considering their discretion Members should also be mindful of the
advice of Council Officers.

Minutes:

Resolved unanimously:

That in accordance with Section 110A(4) of the
Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from
the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that
it could involve the possible disclosure of exempt information as
defined in Paragraph 1 of Schedule 12A of that Act.

The Single Purpose Standards Committee Hearing
had been convened following an investigation into other matters had
revealed the possibility that the Members’ Code of Conduct
may have been breached. The Hearing was
held to determine whether the code had been breached and what, if
any sanctions should be imposed. The
Independent Person was present in an advisory, non-voting
capacity.

The Deputy Monitoring Officer circulated a
communication received from one of the subject members which requested an adjournment of the
Hearing. The Deputy Monitoring Officer
informed the Committee that one of the subject members had
confirmed an unwillingness to participate in the process.

In accordance with procedure, the Chairman
adjourned the meeting at 11.05am in order for the Committee to
decide whether to adjourn the Hearing.
Mr Hart, Independent Counsel, the Deputy Monitoring Officer and the
Principal Democratic Support left the meeting at this
point. On reconvening at 11.43am the Chairman confirmed that the Committee
had unanimously agreed not to adjourn the Hearing.

Mr Hart, presented
the report of the Deputy Monitoring Officer and the evidence
against each Councillor. This included
hearing from Councillors Mace and Hartley.

The meeting
adjourned at 12.55pm for refreshments and reconvened at
13.30pm.

On reconvening, the Council’s internal
investigator was invited to give
evidence to the Committee. In
accordance with Hearing procedure, Committee Members asked
questions of the witnesses. Mr Hart
then summarised the alleged breaches of conduct with regard to each
subject member, detailed in an exempt minute, and invited the
subject member in attendance to make a closing statement.

The meeting adjourned at 3.25pm to determine
whether in their opinion the subject members had breached the
Members’ Code of Conduct. The
Hearing reconvened at 4.50pm.

On reconvening, the Chairman confirmed that
the Committee had found each member in breach of the Members’
Code of Conduct:

Resolved unanimously:

(1)Councillor Wild had bullied a member of
staff in an attempt to obtain sensitive information with the intent
to pass that information to other people and had brought the
Council and Office of Councillor into disrepute.

(2)Councillor Gardiner had misled officers,
failed to co-operate in the Standards Investigation and attempted
to intimidate, control and influence the investigation and
had brought the Council and Office of
Councillor into disrepute.

Mr Hart suggested that the meeting
be adjourned in order for the subject
members to be made aware of the Committee’s findings and
enable them to make mitigating statements prior to any sanctions
being imposed. It was agreed that the meeting would reconvene on
Monday 11 March at 5.00pm.

The Hearing
adjourned at 5.13pm on Thursday 6 March and reconvened at 5.00pm on
Monday 11 March 2019.

On reconvening representations had been
received from the subject members, none of whom were in attendance. The
representations included a further request to adjourn the Hearing
and the meeting briefly adjourned at 5.02pm to enable the Committee
to read the representations and consider whether the Committee
wished to adjourn. At 5.25pm the meeting
reconvened and the Chairman advised that ... view
the full minutes text for item 3.